Remember Me as a Time of Day
by Sleeping In
Summary: AU. Their life isn’t perfect, but they never wanted it to be. Leyton


**remember me as a time of day**

_**leyton!**_, vague naley reference  
a/n: i don't like capitals so i didn't bother with them, timeframe jumps around (just go with it), & this is **au**. please review & enjoy.

* * *

"we are shaped and fashioned by what we love"  
_goethe_

-

they sit face to face.

alone together in peyton's room in her empty house.

their lips touch.

then they meet again, but this time they stay pressed against each other.

lucas was her first kiss and he'd be her first love and he'd be everything he possibly could, because he loves this girl.

the first time they're together is so awkward but so sweet.

they're both so nervous and they don't know which limb should go where, what they should do next, but it's him and it's her and they figure it out.

his lips are hesitant on her skin and she feels a stirring in areas she never really knew about before then.

she reminds him of apples dipped in caramel. all sticky on the outside, but the center is strong. he had told her that once. she had laughed.

they're fifteen and they've never been so innocent.

his hand touches her skirt, makes it way underneath, and she shivers.

her hands haven't stayed still, in his hair, on his face, grabbing at his back. she doesn't like how he wants to take it slow, but she wouldn't love him if he didn't.

when they were seven, he met her at the playground.

he knew then he would love her.

the night her mother died and she crawled into lucas' bed at two am in the morning was the first time he kissed her.

three days later, he told her he loved her.

one year later, she told him she loved him too.

-

brooke davis could have been her best friend, she knows this for some reason, but something holds her back and peyton believes it's because of lucas.

-

he proposes when they're seventeen.

she smiles, asks him why he even bothered asking, and he replies, 'formalities.'

they marry on her eighteenth birthday.

she's wearing a summer dress with her black, worn-out converse and he's got a collar shirt on with blue jeans.

they've never been so happy.

-

the constants in life are each other, but nathan is there. haley too. brooke floats in and out, too busy with cheerleading, boys, parties to stick around for long.

nathan goes through girls like tissue paper, using and throwing away easily and without caring.

he can't help that his heart went with haley james when she decided life was meant to happen to her too. she missed their senior year touring and they still hadn't seen her. random calls and letters, with no hint at a return, just of a bright future ahead and away from them.

he doesn't talk about it and they know better than to mention it.

he would talk when he was ready, peyton said one day and that was that.

-

they didn't have a honeymoon.

they didn't really care.

they had each other and the rest of their lives.

what was so important about a few days?

-

the second semester of college she tells him she's pregnant.

he's never been that excited before.

they take a bubble bath, water splashing on the floor and bubbles overflowing the tub. limbs are all over the place, like their first time. only now, they know every crevice, every quirk, and they know this is everything.

she's glowing most days now.

brooke gave her a call, congratulations she said, but it soon turned awkward. they were the best friends that never had a chance. peyton wonders what life would have been like, if she had curled up in brooke's bed that night instead of lucas'.

but then she feels a jolt, holds her stomach, and knows this was meant to be.

-

'i love you.'

'i love you too.'

'good cause i'm not ever leavin' babe.'

'damn, i was hoping to jump nathan's bones sometime soon.'

'...not funny.'

'oh i don't know. i have to say it made me smile.'

'still not funny.'

'oh shut up. you act more like a pregnant woman than me. i swear, you must steal my hormones at night or something.'

'steal your hormones? did you just accuse me of stealing your hormones? my god what do they put in those pre-natal vitamins?'

'not funny.'

'payback's a bitch.'

'wait, what's that? is it the couch calling? why yes it is.'

'oh honey, you know i love you. no need to call the couch, you're welcome to sleep with me.'

'...smart ass.'

'i love you.'

'i love you too.'

-

their life isn't perfect, but they never wanted it to be.

there's a mortgage to pay, mouths to feed, battles to be fought.

there's three children now, one more on the way, lucas tells people with pride.

he works at the auto shop with keith, writes during the nights, and never lets his family down. he has everything he wanted, he doesn't want to ruin it.

peyton works at the local newspaper and her art is somewhat known. nothing too big but the money helps with all the extra costs that come with a family and children.

they're still happy and their children are too.

peyton doesn't mention the white picket fence in the front yard due to all the time she spent rebelling against that lifestyle as a teen. lucas just laughs every time she sends the thing a dirty look.

he wears his ring around his neck, a hazard of working at an auto shop. it doesn't bother her, she trusts him.

she likes the feel of it on her finger, like a constant reminder that everything works out in the end.

nathan lives down the street, but not with the girl of his dreams.

he doesn't tell lucas or peyton about the plane ticket hidden away in his closet. she had sent it, no note, just a plane ticket.

he left them a letter, saying he would come back once he had given life a chance.

he turns up with haley james-scott on his arm six years later.

peyton smiles and lucas slaps him on the back and it's like the old days again.

brooke davis could've changed the world.

she never had the chance though, her plane crashed when she was just about to start living.

peyton never forgave herself for never giving it a chance.

she named her daughter brooke, in memoriam of the things you miss in life.

-

her bed was a mess afterwards, covers flung across the room.

his arms encased her, keeping them both warm.

there was a silence, but it was nice.

they didn't want to ruin it with words.

he reaches over, bringing her even closer to him, enjoying the feel of naked skin on skin. he loves her body, it inspires him like she'll never know.

his hand slowly moves up her body, trying to memorize every detail, locking it away in his mind for safekeeping.

he's completely satisfied and from the smile on her sleeping face, he can see she is too.

he listens to her breathing, imagining them years from now. her with a child in her arms and her in his arms.

he smiled.

she stirred.

'go to sleep,' she mumbled.

he nods even though he knows she won't see it.

he never wants to forget this moment.

the first of many he promises himself and the girl lying next to him.

this is love.


End file.
